I by IMD

Ann Perrins on rebuilding Atlassian Williams F1 through talent, culture, psychological safety – and the long road back to winning.What does it really take to rebuild a Formula One team from the inside out? In this episode of I by IMD podcast, Susan Goldsworthy hosts Ann Perrins, Chief HR Officer at Atlassian Williams Racing, to discuss the human side of elite performance: how to attract world-class talent, build a culture people want to stay in, and transform an iconic team without losing its identity. Perrins makes it clear that this doesn’t mean a soft agenda: the team “can't return to winning unless we get that right.” She also reframes a term many leaders misuse: “psychological safety is not about everything feeling nice and comfortable.” And she is blunt about the reality behind the glamour: “we’re very explicit and we don’t sugarcoat it.” Our guest:Ann Perrins is the Chief Human Resource Officer at Atlassian Williams Racing. Before joining Williams in 2023, she built her career across banking, consulting, and global engineering and operations environments, including 17 years at BP and senior roles at GKN Automotive. At Williams, she is helping lead the people, culture, and talent transformation needed to support the team’s return to winning.

What does it take to restore confidence in a 160-year-old bank that investors had stopped believing in? In this episode, IMD’s Jean-François Manzoni speaks with Societe Generale CEO Slawomir Krupa about rebuilding a major institution from the inside out: stronger capital, more cost discipline, harder strategic choices – and a leadership culture of clarity and accountability.Krupa does not frame transformation as storytelling. He frames it as work. He says the bank inherited “weak foundations,” warns that dismissing challengers such as fintechs is “a recipe for disaster down the road,” and explains why some painful decisions were made because “it was the right thing to do.” Our Guest:Slawomir KrupaChief Executive Officer, Societe GeneraleSlawomir Krupa became CEO of Societe Generale in May 2023 after spending nearly his entire career at the bank. Before becoming CEO, he held senior leadership roles across Corporate and Investment Banking, served as CEO of Societe Generale Americas, and led Global Banking and Investor Solutions. Under his leadership, the bank has focused on restoring capital strength, simplifying the portfolio, and repositioning for sustainable growth.LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/slawomir-krupa/

Scaling a company is not about chasing headlines. It’s about proving customers care.In this episode of I by IMD, Katarina Bonde shares hard-earned lessons from decades in venture-backed tech, board leadership, and global scale-ups. She challenges founders to validate demand before celebrating growth: “If no one is… spending money to buy it, you actually don't have a product.” Katarina, who served as board chair and CEO in various venture-backed tech firms across the US and Europe, also reframes the AI discussion. The opportunity isn’t in the current bubble, but in the smart use of data – “the real gold here.” For rapid-growth startups, so-called scale-ups, who are tempted to prioritize land grabs over margins, Katarina offers a grounded reminder: “You have to show that you have a business model that can pay for itself.” Our Guest:Katarina Bonde served as Chair of companies including Mentimeter, Stillfront Group, and others in Sweden’s digital ecosystem. She also served as an executive in various venture-backed tech firms in Europe and the US and is an active angel investor.LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katarinabonde/ 

What does it take to build a company that lasts generations — not just quarters? In this episode, Endress+Hauser’s Supervisory Board President Matthias Altendorf discusses with IMD professor Goutam Challagala how to integrate sustainability into strategy, innovation, and board governance of a global market leader.Altendorf challenges common thinking: “If you start to separate one from the other, you will never get the synergies.” He embraces disciplined vigilance: “Only the paranoid survives.” And he reframes diversity as protection: “The more diverse your DNA is, the better you can deal with the future.”A conversation for everyone interested in building organizations that can navigate uncertainty without losing their identity.Our Guest:Matthias Altendorf led Endress+Hauser as its first non-family CEO and now serves as Supervisory Board President. Under his leadership, the company strengthened its global market position, expanded into high-growth sectors, and deepened its sustainability integration while maintaining family ownership principles.

Construction is one of the biggest carbon emitters – and cement sits at the center of it. In this episode of Inside the Transition, IMD's Julia Binder and Knut Haanaes speak with Holcim’s Head of Operational Excellence Ram Muthu about what decarbonization looks like when you’re responsible for heavy equipment, waste streams, and execution across real plants.Muthu doesn’t romanticize the challenge. He argues the sector can move fast – but only if policy and infrastructure keep up, and if leaders stop treating transformation like a checklist. As he puts it: “Cement and building materials are probably one of the hardest to abate sectors,” “our industry still depends a lot on carbon capture and storage,” and “focus on execution is critical.”Inside the Transition delivers practical, executive-grade conversations on the energy transition. More info: https://www.imd.org/ibyimd/podcasts/inside-the-transition/ Our Guest:Ram Muthu is the Head of Operational Excellence at Holcim and a member of Holcim’s Executive Committee, focused on operational performance and the delivery of transformation at scale across a global building materials leader. LinkedIn: https://ch.linkedin.com/in/ram-muthu-112b46b

In this episode of Inside the Transition, IMD’s Julia Binder and Knut Haanaes welcome Marie-Laure Schaufelberger, Chief Sustainability Officer of Pictet Group, to explore the role of finance in driving the energy transition.Schaufelberger oversees Pictet’s responsible investment strategy, ESG governance, and stewardship, and brings a capital-markets perspective shaped by her work across thematic investing and system-level initiatives such as Building Bridges. The conversation examines where transition capital is flowing, how investors assess corporate credibility, and how expectations are evolving. For executives, the episode offers practical insight into what it now takes to attract and sustain transition finance.

In a moment of upheaval for international development, Katherine Milligan of the Graduate Institute and Carlos Álvarez Pereira, Secretary General of the Club of Rome, argue that hope – not fear – must guide what comes next. In 2025, the international development sector reached a tipping point.Deep cuts to U.S. aid and a rapidly shifting geopolitical landscape made clear that the international development system as we knew it was gone. What comes next depends on how we choose to respond. According to Katherine Milligan, Senior Lecturer at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies and elea Fellow at IMD, and Carlos Alvarez Pereira, Secretary General of the Club of Rome, the path forward begins not with fear or denial, but with psychological safety. They argue that creating space for honest reflection is essential to bridging the growing dissonance between official narratives and how humanitarian and development professionals are actually feeling. In this conversation, they explore the leadership skills, competencies, and sensemaking practices needed to unlock collective intelligence, so the sector can navigate transformation and maximize the chances for renewal and success. 

Could an ecosystem-led approach to disparate industrial information technology systems build more resilient and efficient global supply chains? Caspar Herzberg, CEO of industrial software company AVEVA, argues that breaking down data silos across companies and sectors could benefit all stakeholders through what he calls “radical collaboration.”Herzberg details the increasing complexity of the industrial world, where thousands of systems across supply chains have locked-in value because they don’t communicate. He argues that to decomplexify and unlock this value, industries need radical collaboration—overcoming the fear of sharing data to realize a significantly bigger collective prize.Ultimately, Herzberg says that he is a pragmatist regarding AI’s societal impact, noting that the augmentation of the worker will be hugely productivity-enhancing. But he cautions that we must collectively establish boundaries on its use, as AI serves humankind.

In this episode, IMD Professor Zhike Lei speaks with Marcus Schindler, the former head of Novo Nordisk’s R&D operation, about driving innovation through transformation. Schindler reveals his journey is defined by “exploration” and details how he balances the need for immediate delivery with long-term discovery, stressing that success requires doing both.Novo Nordisk’s strong, patient-focused purpose attracts global talent, and Schindler explains the strategy behind establishing R&D hubs in places like Boston to leverage external innovation and entrepreneurial spirit. R&D teams, he says, need to prepare for the age of AI by becoming “bi-lingual” in both science and digital skills, and concludes that trust and a compelling value story are the currency for leading a transformative organization.

In this episode, IMD Professor Zhike Lei speaks with Marcus Schindler, the former head of Novo Nordisk's R&D operation, about driving innovation through transformation. Marcus reveals his journey is defined by "exploration" and details how he balances the need for immediate delivery with long-term discovery, stressing that success requires doing both.Novo Nordisk’s strong, patient-focused purpose attracts global talent, and Marcus explains the strategy behind establishing R&D hubs in places like Boston to leverage external innovation and entrepreneurial spirit. R&D teams, he says, need to prepare for the age of AI by becoming "bi-lingual" in both science and digital skills, and concludes that trust and a compelling value story are the currency for leading a transformative organization.